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Newsletter |
| Back to Newsletters | For Adobe Acrobat full colour photos version click on Newsletter Jan 2005.pdf [1.4Mb] | |||
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LOTS ROAD INQUIRY This public inquiry into the refurbishment of Lots Road Power Station and the construction of twin towers on either side of Chelsea Creek is scheduled to commence on 1st February and is expected to continue for the whole month. It will take place at Kensington Town Hall. Inquiries do not usually sit on Mondays; we will be posting an estimated schedule of appearances on the Society’s web site. Since this is one of the most important inquiries in the last 20 years, members are encouraged to attend to show to the Inspector the strength of local feeling about the proposals. A good day to attend is the first day when each party will be making a brief opening statement of their case. Pre-inquiry meeting On 8 November the Inspector held a pre-inquiry meeting, which was very well attended, not only by the main participants, but there was also a fairly full public gallery. The ‘shock revelations’ of this meeting were that: ● The developers, Circadian, produced new draft agreements for the proposed contributions, both physical and financial, they would make towards local facilities (known as the terms of a Section 106 agreement) - these had changed considerably from those previously negotiated with the local authorities at the time that planning consent had been sought. Needless to say, they were considerably less generous and led all 3 authorities (the Greater London Authority, the Royal Borough and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham) to ask for an adjournment of the start date and to say they ‘reserved their position’ in respect of their whole approach to the inquiry. ● The Greater London Authority stated that they understood the developers were having independent confidential discussions about aspects of the Section 106 Agreement with each of the authorities and they strongly objected to this; all discussions should be open and transparent and there was no room for ‘private deals’. We agree. ● The inspector expressed surprise that none of the local authorities were putting forward transport evidence to the inquiry. He had been to the Lots Road area recently and observed how very congested it was. The Society’s Case The Society’s team at the inquiry will be David Le Lay, on urban design issues, and Terence Bendixson, on transport issues. Nigel Stenhouse will also be helping us. The Society will concentrate on the damage that would be done to the riverside and views along and across the river by the proposed towers and on the effects of concentrating so much development into a corner of Chelsea that is already densely built up, poorly served by public transport and ill-equipped with local services. We are liasing closely with all the other objectors, such as Lots Road Action Group, Chelsea Harbour Residents’ Association, Cheyne Walk Trust, the West London River Group and residents’ associations in Chelsea and Fulham, but as our views do not necessarily exactly coincide with those of all these organisations, we have reserved the right to be entirely independent. David Le Lay Back to Top |
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ENVIRONMENT AWARDS This awards scheme is run by the Royal Borough and is designed to recognize relatively small improvements to buildings or open spaces which nonetheless have an impact on the quality of the physical environment. It has been going for many years now and the awards, which are made annually, have played a part in making all involved with architecture and planning to be more conscious of these important aspects of our environment. Making a nomination is easy and anyone can do it. All you have to do is send details of the improvement, to the Executive Director of Planning and Conservation at the Town Hall, giving at least the address of the improvement, and anything else you may know about it. Back to Top |
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VISION FOR CHELSEA What do you want Chelsea to be like 10 years from now? We posed this question at our conferences in 1998 and 2000. We need to do so again. The Royal Borough has to produce a new development plan in the next 3 years. The first stage is to draw up our vision for the future of the Borough, followed by a strategy, key policies and a set of proposals. We are now at the first stage and the Council wants to know what our vision is for what Chelsea will be like in 2015. The Vision Many people might opt for a “minimal change” vision, but one thing is certain - there could be more change than in the last 50 years. The Lots Road area will change greatly – not just the Lots Road Power Station, but the whole south side of Lots Road along the river, and a new secondary school. Then there are the hospitals between King’s Road and Fulham Road – what do you want to happen here? The Duke of York’s HQ development has barely started and Chelsea Barracks may be redeveloped. And then there is the potential redevelopment of South Kensington station. In addition we may have congestion charging; there will be a new station at Chelsea Harbour and hopefully better north/south bus services. Key Issues The key issues raised at our conferences were: ● preserve and enhance Chelsea’s character and appearance, especially to develop a vision/strategy and planning guidance for development along the Thames to prevent high buildings; a streetscape initiative, especially clearing the clutter in King’s Road; and a redesign of Sloane Square to create a more attractive pedestrian environment; ● maintain a socially-mixed community, with more affordable housing, a new secondary school and ease of access to facilities that meet day-to-day needs ● maintain successful shopping centres, both major centres (King’s Road and Fulham Road) and local centres/parades – there needs to be a vision for their future, a programme of improvements and they need to be managed; ● make greater provision for arts, culture and entertainment, including venues for the performing and visual arts and a museum for Chelsea. The Mayor’s London Plan The Borough’s new plan, however, has to conform with the Mayor’s London Plan. The key issues which concern the Council are: ● high buildings – the Mayor seems to favour high buildings – he supports the twin towers in the Lots Road scheme. The Council needs to undertake a new analysis of the Borough to avoid high buildings in sensitive areas, as Westminster has done, to justify resisting them along the Thames and in conservation areas; ● higher densities – the Mayor’s Plan advocates higher densities in areas with high accessibility to public transport. Most of the Borough, except those areas poorly served by public transport, have higher densities than the Mayor advocates. The challenge is to revise our existing density policy so it relates to the existing levels and controls the densities in areas of low public transport accessibility, such as Lots Road; ● affordable housing – the Mayor advocates a higher proportion of affordable housing in housing schemes, with a significant element of rented, shared ownership and key worker housing. Next steps The Council will be consulting residents in the next few months to find out how we see the future of the Borough. We will be asking you to tell us your vision so we can represent your views. Michael Bach Back to Top |
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MOBILE PHONE MASTS On 20 October 2004 Councillor Tony Holt, Chairman of the Royal Borough’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee with regard to Planning, invited experts to address the Committee on the important subject of mobile phone masts. There is an increasing number of applications for these and there are likely to be even more in the future. Whether or not these masts are a danger to health is something that The Chelsea Society is happy to leave to others, but we are most concerned at the visual intrusion that these masts can cause. A ‘good’ example is Bristol House in Lower Sloane Street where the roof of this building is a complete clutter of masts; and a couple of masts have now appeared on the top of the student hostel building on the corner of King’s Road and Manresa Road, formerly owned by King’s College. Of course, everyone who uses a mobile phone depends on these masts and there is no reason why they could not be provided without visual detriment to the environment. Church towers and similar architectural features on other buildings which are usually empty and have openings for ventilation are ideal for housing these masts. Furthermore, churches in particular generally welcome the additional income that these masts provide. The towers and steeples of many churches all over the country have already been pressed into service to provide homes for phone masts. There is no visual pollution and most people are totally unaware of their existence. David Le Lay Back to Top |
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HOW THE SIDCUP BYPASS WAS BROUGHT TO CHELSEA No one can have failed to notice how numerous premises in the shopping streets of Chelsea and Kensington are now decked out in Tesco’s blinding white, red and blue house style. Huge corporations are, of course, inclined to do this sort of thing. They love uniformity. Esso’s petrol station opposite the gates of the Brompton Cemetery in Fulham Road or McDonald’s on the corner of the King’s Road and Royal Avenue are other local examples of house styles that make no concessions to locality. The Society fought particularly hard to minimise the damage done by Tesco to the corner of Tite Street and Royal Hospital Road. Their convenience shop there is the last in a row of distinctive and well-mannered shop fronts in a group of Edwardian buildings. The Lieutenant Governor of the hospital wrote to Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, to remind him of the special qualities of Chelsea and, at the Town Hall, Michael French and his staff persuaded the company’s architects to depart from the ugly precedent established by Europa Stores and design the windows not as one but as two distinct bays. So far so good, but the garish lighting and blinding colours remain. Tesco as a company is, of course, all about keeping prices as low as possible and this aim is applied to every aspect of the business. Shop fittings are therefore standardised and mass produced, based on utilitarian specifications and designed for high-speed assembly. The upshot is plastic decals stuck on windows and fluorescent tubes in light boxes. Inside is the searing neon anonymity of an operating theatre. Tesco’s bold, brash standard design is, no doubt, aimed at road-side locations (my mind’s eye sees the Sidcup bypass) and at attracting the attention of drivers passing at 40 or 50 mph. These are not streets for living in but linear, automotive spaces. As Gertrude Stein said, I think, of Oakland, California, ‘There is no there, when you get there.’ Chelsea, by contrast, is a patchwork quilt of distinct places. One way or another we need to get firms like Tesco to acknowledge this reality and to start adapting their house style to the genius of such places. Getting rid of their blinding white fascia in the Royal Hospital Road would be a good start. Terence Bendixson Back to Top |
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CONGESTION CHARGE The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has decided that his proposal to extend the current Central Congestion Charging Zone to include most of Kensington and Chelsea will go ahead. This follows consultation on the proposals which residents of this Borough fiercely opposed. The initial decision came out in August, but has since been confirmed in the Mayor’s announcement on 12 October of his 5-year Transport Strategy for London. Whilst the Mayor has decided in principle to proceed with the westward extension of the Central Congestion Charging Zone, he has indicated that he is prepared to consider including residents in the areas between the Earl’s Court One-Way System and the West London Line and north of Westway within the zone. This means that if they want to use roads within the Borough they can get an annual permit at the same discounted rate (£130 a year) as other residents, rather than pay £1,300 a year. This would overcome one of the key objections raised by the Council and many residents. The Council strongly disputes the level of congestion that TfL (Transport for London) suggests currently occurs on the main roads in the Borough. Many of the main east/west roads, especially Cromwell Road, have much lower levels of congestion due to the current scheme. It is unlikely that any additional benefits will come from extending the zone, indeed Borough residents may resume commuting to the Central Area, with the opposite effect. A major concern, however, is that traffic seeking to avoid the extended zone by using the proposed new “boundary route” – the Earl’s Court One-Way System, including the Cheyne Walk/Embankment. Since this system is very prone to congestion, even a slight increase in traffic can result in traffic jams, both on the route itself and at the junctions with the east/west roads, such as Fulham Road and the King’s Road. Next Steps The Mayor will consult the Borough again after Christmas on the details of his proposals, with public consultation next Spring, with a final decision in Summer 2005 at the earliest and implementation, if he decides to proceed, in Summer 2006. Charge to go up to £8? Meanwhile the Mayor announced at the end of November that he proposes to consult on an increase in the congestion charge from £5 to £8 for cars. TfL will undertake a full public consultation, but the earliest that the proposed charge increase could be introduced would be July 2005. There are some minor concessions proposed, such as a 15% discount for monthly payments (3 charge-free days a month) and 40 charge-free days for annual payment– but only for commuters into the zone, not for residents of the zone. TfL expect that the increased charge would reduce congestion by a further 5-13% within the Central Area Charging Zone, which could benefit the east/west routes across the Borough. Michael Bach Back to Top |
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KEY DECISIONS Key decisions in the next 3 months include: ● Chelsea Conservation Area extension ● Cremorne Riverside Centre Development ● Hans Crescent: Review of Traffic ●· Proposed Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge Link under Chelsea Bridge ●· Brompton Hospital Planning Brief Back to Top |
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WEST CHELSEA INITIATIVE The second meeting, like the first one, was overshadowed by a murder – this time that of John Monckton. This time the format was different, with short speeches by the Leader, Councillor Merrick Cockell, higlighting the key issues: ● community safety, including the new police community support officer; ● traffic and congestion, including congestion charging, parking and the new station; ● local amenities, including the new secondary school ● planning, including the Lots Road inquiry ● streetscape/open space The next meeting will be held in mid 2005. Back to Top |
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FRONT GARDENS It is a feature of many houses in Chelsea that they have front gardens; one only has to think of Cheyne Walk or Margaretta Terrace to realise that front gardens are an important element of the special charm of such streets. Unlike garden squares, the design and appearance of front gardens are the responsibility of individual house owners and they therefore offer an opportunity for owners to express their personality in the way that they treat their front garden. An interesting trend over the past 20 years has been what one might call the ‘formalisation’ of London’s front gardens. One can safely say that not since Capability Brown swept away England’s formal gardens has there been such a mass display of topiary, clipped bushes, dwarf hedging and parterre. For 250 years the British have decried their French neighbours for their attitude to gardens; believing there was something suspect about ordering plants into straight lines and clipping them into shapes that nature never intended; but Chelsea’s front gardens show how the urge to tame nature is now alive and well on this side of the Channel. This enthusiasm for formality can be seen as part of a wider interest, particularly amongst what one might call the ‘traditional-minded cultural establishment’, for classical architecture; as exemplified by the work of, amongst others, Quinlan Terry and John Simpson. One of the first classical gardens of recent times was designed by John Fowler, the famous interior decorator, for his own country house at Odiham in Hampshire, followed by Sir Roy Strong’s complex and elaborate formal garden in Herefordshire and the garden of that arch member of the establishment, the Prince of Wales. There are probably those who have created formal front gardens for much more prosaic reasons. As these gardens generally rely upon evergreen plants such as box and yew, they look good, if the same, throughout the year and they are relatively maintenance free. It would be wrong to assume that no weeding is needed but probably less than with a traditional English garden. In fact, good ‘traditional English’ front gardens are now hard to find in Chelsea. Such gardens are informal, with flowers and shrubs providing seasonal colour, rock plants growing amongst paving, as advocated by Gertrude Jekyll and, compared to the smartness of the formal garden, they seem random and overgrown. As the inevitable pendulum of taste swings on its merry way, perhaps the charm of such gardens might again become chic. David Le Lay Back to Top |
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FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE FESTIVAL Chelsea’s own Arts Festival will be taking place again in 2005 from Friday 17 to Sunday, 26 June. This year we plan to increase the number of events we present so that there will be even more choice for our multiplying number of supporters. The feature this year will be ‘The Piano’ with Joanna MacGregor, one of the most innovative and wide-ranging pianists, opening the Festival at the Cadogan Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a classical programme that includes Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto. Joanna appears on at least two further occasions – with Andy Sheppard (saxophonist) on 21 June and with the BBC Big Band on 22 June. The dazzling violinist, Chloe Hanslip, will be performing in the State Apartments at The Royal Hospital on 18 June and regular favourites of the Festival, namely Corinna Harris, Artemis, Alba Ventura and Julian Lloyd Webber are also scheduled to take part. In the talks section, we have George Alagiah, James Taylor on Horatio Nelson, Tim Smit, the visionary behind Cornwall’s Eden Project, and a talk by Uli Gerhartz with a fascinating insight into the mysteries of the Steinway Piano. There are at least two ‘rush- hour’ concerts featuring the RPO on 21 and 24 June, at the Cadogan Hall and, of course, much more, with programmes of ‘Early Music’, special events for the children, cabaret and, for the first time, silent movies! So please make a note of the dates of the Festival now. We are looking forward to seeing you. Ian Frazer Back to Top |
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EDMUND HOWARD, CHELSEA CLOCKMAKER The hand-made turret clock, below, came under the hammer in a specialist sale at Christie’s South Kensington on 16 December. It would once have been in either a church tower of a stable yard turret, with the small brass dial being for the benefit of the winder only and the main, large dial (not included in the sale) being on the outside of the turret. Both the brass dial and the cast iron frame were inscribed Edmund Howard, Chelsea, 1767. It would be intriguing to find out more about this 18th century Chelsea clockmaker. This is just the sort of object that should be in a Chelsea Museum – if we had one. It might also have been a suitable thing for the Reginald Blunt Bequest to have purchased; though at £4,182, somewhat beyond its means. Back to Top |
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STATUE OF J.M. WHISTLER Nicholas Dimbleby in his studio in Devon with the clay model of the statue of James McNeill Whistler which is to be erected on Cheyne Walk, near to Battersea Bridge. He has been working on the model for the past 9 months and it is now ready to go to the foundry in Basingstoke. The statue will be in bronze on a circular granite plinth, quarried in Scotland. It is hoped that the unveiling will take place in July of this year. The costs have been met from donations to the Whistler Statue Appeal, a charity specially set up for this purpose. The Appeal has raised about £70,000 to date but needs another £20,000 to see the project completed. Any donations will be gratefully received and should be sent to the Whistler Statue Appeal, 136 Kensington Church Street, London W8 4BH. Donors giving £10,000 or more will receive a bronze statuette of the statue on a hardwood plinth, approx. total height : 350mm (14”) Back to Top |
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VISITS Visit to the Mansion House in October 2004 The Mansion House is one of the grandest surviving Georgian town palaces in London – the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. Some members were lucky enough to see the Lord Mayor in his full regalia. The guided tour was led by the Hallkeeper, John Davis. The building of a mansion for the Lord Mayor of London was first considered after the Great Fire in 1666, but it was not until almost a century later, in 1752, that the building was completed. The City chose a design in the fashionable Palladian style by George Dance the Elder, then Clerk of the City’s works. It was built as a residence for the Lord Mayor of London during his year of office, where he could live and work, sit as a Chief Magistrate of the City and entertain on a grand scale. The important collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings, bequeathed to the Corporation by Lord Samuel in 1987, is displayed on the north-west staircase, in the Saloon, the Long Parlour and the North and South Drawing Rooms. These are stunning works of art and it was such a delight to see them in this setting. We saw entrance halls containing fine sculpture, 19th century paintings and an 18th century hooded porter’s chair, then proceeded to the first floor to see the Saloon, the Long Parlour, the Egyptian Hall and the Drawing Rooms. The Saloon occupies the space of the original open courtyard, now with a new roof since 1992. The Long Parlour, used by the Lord Mayor for dining and receiving visitors, is relatively unchanged, the present furnishings and decoration designed to recall the mid-18th century character of the room. The Egyptian Hall was built for banqueting and is still in use for entertainment. Its design was inspired by the description of such a hall by the Roman architect Vitruvius, with a high central section, lower aisles and two superimposed orders of columns. The Hall lost its distinctive attic and original gallery in 1795 when the present coffered, barrel vault was built. The room was enriched in the 19th century by adding marble statues and stained glass windows. The Drawing Rooms were created in the mid-19th century and contain among other things the Nile Suite of furniture in crimson and gold. We concluded our visit in the Gold and Silver Vaults, which contain a collection of pieces acquired for the Mansion House or presented as gifts to Lord Mayors. It includes the Fire Cup of 1662, which was saved from the flames at the Guildhall during the Great Fire of 1666, and the Lord Mayor’s famous gold collar of about 1520. I look forward to welcoming you on our future visits in 2005. Valerie Hamami-Thomas Back to Top |
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CHELSEA’S PUBS The theme for the Society’s 2005 exhibition is Chelsea’s Pubs, under the title Last Orders for the Pubs of Chelsea? It will look at their development, change and disappearance, consider their role in Chelsea’s social life and look at whether they can withstand the commercial pressures which have resulted in their loss to other uses, especially to housing, restaurants, bars and shops. Any contributions of material about your favourite pub would be welcome. We are looking for evidence of how they have changed - pictures, memorabilia and stories about your favourite Chelsea pubs. Please contact Michael Bach, 3 Cambridge Place, London W8 5PB if you have any information. David Le Lay Back to Top |
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: ● 14-17 January : Exhibition of designs for Sloane Square; ● 1-25 February : Public Inquiry on Lots Road Power Station scheme, Kensington Town Hall ● April : Visit to the Royal Society ● 17-26 June: Chelsea Festival. The views expressed in this Newsletter are those of the individual contributors and are not necessarily those of the Society. |
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